Radiography in Australia

[HollieBee]

Hi!

I'm a first year radiography student in the U.K. but im hoping to move to Perth as soon as I can once I graduate. I've heard so many conflicting things about whether or not it is possible.

Sorry to be a pain, but could you possibly tell the process you went through to be able to do this? I'm fumbling in the dark really and I'm completely clueless.

I've heard you need to do 2 years clinical practice post-grad to be able to become a radiographer in Australia, but are you able to do this as locum work in Australia and move as soon as you've graduated?

Any information you could give me would be the biggest help.

Thank you!

Edited June 18, 2017 by HollieBee
Spelling

[VERYSTORMY]

I have moved your post to its own thread in migration chat as it will get a better response there. 

[wrussell]

Quote

are you able to do this as locum work in Australia and move as soon as you've graduated?

No.

For completeness - a  trainee visa might make it possible, but would most lkely create more problems than it is worth. 

[DukeNinja]

Hey. I'm a radiographer who's just completed my visa application. Now that the 457 has been taken out, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be for it. Being brutally honest, you would struggle finding locum work as a newbie in the UK, let alone in Aus. If you're considering the 189/190 permanent visas, they will require a minimum of 3 yrs post grad experience.

You're better off getting a solid foundation first, ideally go work for a major trauma hospital. At the latter, you'll also have a better chance of getting trained in a modality much quicker, which in turn, will allow you to then apply for a Senior Radiographer post in Aus. At the time of writing, the salary of the latter starts at $99k...

 

I'm happy to answer any questions if you think I can help. I have also documented my journey as to how I went about to apply for my visa/AHPRA/ASMIRT.

 

DN

Edited June 24, 2017 by DukeNinja

[Lauram1]

On 24/06/2017 at 17:40, DukeNinja said:

Hey. I'm a radiographer who's just completed my visa application. Now that the 457 has been taken out, I'm not sure what the equivalent would be for it. Being brutally honest, you would struggle finding locum work as a newbie in the UK, let alone in Aus. If you're considering the 189/190 permanent visas, they will require a minimum of 3 yrs post grad experience.

You're better off getting a solid foundation first, ideally go work for a major trauma hospital. At the latter, you'll also have a better chance of getting trained in a modality much quicker, which in turn, will allow you to then apply for a Senior Radiographer post in Aus. At the time of writing, the salary of the latter starts at $99k...

 

I'm happy to answer any questions if you think I can help. I have also documented my journey as to how I went about to apply for my visa/AHPRA/ASMIRT.

 

DN

Hi,

 

I know this thread is a few years old and things may have changed but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with ASMIRT and what they're looking for on their application?

It states you need two years clinical experience post grad on their website, where as I have been told it's 2 years.post gras specifically in x-ray and CT only. I specialised after 1 year so only have one year full time x-ray and I also do bank work in x-ray at the weekends for the last 6 months. I'm panicking now this won't be enough and I'll need to go back to general full time. 

 

Anyone got any ideas?? @DukeNinja you seem to be in the know!! 

 

Thanks!

Laura 

[DukeNinja]

On 06/07/2019 at 21:57, Lauram1 said:

Hi,

 

I know this thread is a few years old and things may have changed but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with ASMIRT and what they're looking for on their application?

It states you need two years clinical experience post grad on their website, where as I have been told it's 2 years.post gras specifically in x-ray and CT only. I specialised after 1 year so only have one year full time x-ray and I also do bank work in x-ray at the weekends for the last 6 months. I'm panicking now this won't be enough and I'll need to go back to general full time. 

 

Anyone got any ideas?? @DukeNinja you seem to be in the know!! 

 

Thanks!

Laura 

Hey Laura,

I'm not sure they want 2 years plain film experience, but rather 2 years post graduate experience. I only did a year of dedicated plain film before doing my CT and MR training, and I managed to get my accreditation.

So ASMIRT will assess your qualifications and experience to confirm that it is equivalent to the Australian standard.

AHPRA is the Aussie equivalent of the HCPC, ie the registration body that all healthcare professionals are accountable to.

Hope this helps.

DN

Edited July 7, 2019 by DukeNinja

[Lauram1]

52 minutes ago, DukeNinja said:

Hey Laura,

I'm not sure they want 2 years plain film experience, but rather 2 years post graduate experience. I only did a year of dedicated plain film before doing my CT and MR training, and I managed to get my accreditation.

So ASMIRT will assess your qualifications and experience to confirm that it is equivalent to the Australian standard.

AHPRA is the Aussie equivalent of the HCPC, ie the registration body that all healthcare professionals are accountable to.

Hope this helps.

DN

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

That's really great to hear, I've did 1 year x-ray and CT before specialising so I have enough post grad experience, and that's how it reads on their website.. but when I've emailed them they've come back with it must be minimum 2 years in CT and general... It's such a long wait to hear back from them! Sent my application and it was received on 20th June so could be up to end of October before I get a reply!! 

I've been loosely (depending of course if there are any suitable Aussie applicants) offered a sponsored position, but according to immi website the TSS visa needs a positive skills assessment (from ASMIRT) so can't proceed with anything visa wise once if I'm offered the job until I hear from ASMIRT! AHH! Stress!

Laura

[DukeNinja]

6 hours ago, Lauram1 said:

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

That's really great to hear, I've did 1 year x-ray and CT before specialising so I have enough post grad experience, and that's how it reads on their website.. but when I've emailed them they've come back with it must be minimum 2 years in CT and general... It's such a long wait to hear back from them! Sent my application and it was received on 20th June so could be up to end of October before I get a reply!! 

I've been loosely (depending of course if there are any suitable Aussie applicants) offered a sponsored position, but according to immi website the TSS visa needs a positive skills assessment (from ASMIRT) so can't proceed with anything visa wise once if I'm offered the job until I hear from ASMIRT! AHH! Stress!

Laura

Generally, you can't bypass the skills assessment, as it's part of the Government's criteria as to what meets their skills shortage occupation list.

Any reason why you didn't go the 189 route? I know it's costly, but at least then you're not tied to one employer.

The imaging workload is very heavy here is Oz, especially in private (the pay and lifestyle makes up for it though), so your first job may not be the one you're still happy in once you've been here a few months.

If you had your 189 visa, ASMIRT skills assessment and AHPRA in place, there's nothing stopping you from applying for any job and get treated as a local applicant. That's how I proceeded.

As an example, my employer will be advertising for more position in the next few months (Band 5 and 6 equivalent), and they are very open to UK applicants.

If you have sent everything that ASMIRT have asked for with your application, you could hear back within 6-8 weeks

DN

Edited July 7, 2019 by DukeNinja

[Lauram1]

11 minutes ago, DukeNinja said:

Generally, you can't bypass the skills assessment, as it's part of the Government's criteria as to what meets their skills shortage occupation list.

Any reason why you didn't go the 189 route? I know it's costly, but at least then you're not tied to one employer.

The imaging workload is very heavy here is Oz, especially in private (the pay and lifestyle makes up for it though), so your first job may not be the one you're still happy in once you've been here a few months.

If you had your 189 visa, ASMIRT skills assessment and AHPRA in place, there's nothing stopping you from applying for any job and get treated as a local applicant. That's how I proceeded.

As an example, my employer will be advertising for more position in the next few months (Band 5 and 6 equivalent), and they are very open to UK applicants.

If you have sent everything that ASMIRT have asked for with your application, you could hear back within 6-8 weeks

DN

The 189 route would be preferable but the agency I've had some dealings with (backed up with a few Google searches) have suggested invites following EOI are only being sent out to those with 80+ points. The maximum I'll have is 65 (providing I get 8s IELTS... second time lucky..8/9 in everything last time except writing ) so the TSS is my back up plan but feels like the quickest option to get over there asap.

I'm really keen to work with the company who potentially may sponsor me but even still, being there on a 189 over TSS would be preferable!

Where is it that you're working?

Laura 

[DukeNinja]

1 hour ago, Lauram1 said:

The 189 route would be preferable but the agency I've had some dealings with (backed up with a few Google searches) have suggested invites following EOI are only being sent out to those with 80+ points. The maximum I'll have is 65 (providing I get 8s IELTS... second time lucky..8/9 in everything last time except writing ) so the TSS is my back up plan but feels like the quickest option to get over there asap.

I'm really keen to work with the company who potentially may sponsor me but even still, being there on a 189 over TSS would be preferable!

Where is it that you're working?

Laura 

It is true that there can be a longer wait if you have less points, however, if your occupation is in demand, and there has not been many invites for your profession, this may not be that long. Have you checked out this website? It tells you how many visas have been allocated to each profession: https://www.anzscosearch.com/occupation-ceilings-2018-19/

I work for a big Queensland Health hospital in Brisbane.

[Lauram1]

6 hours ago, DukeNinja said:

It is true that there can be a longer wait if you have less points, however, if your occupation is in demand, and there has not been many invites for your profession, this may not be that long. Have you checked out this website? It tells you how many visas have been allocated to each profession: https://www.anzscosearch.com/occupation-ceilings-2018-19/

I work for a big Queensland Health hospital in Brisbane.

I've never heard/been told about this! Seems like that could be positive news!

Sorry to keep asking you so many questions, I'm assuming you don't need AHPRA to apply for 189?

I'm trying to leave sending this for a while as working on a 5 month time scale (2 months for approval, 3 months to present in Australia) is Xmas/new year so I don't want to be heading over that way around that time. In your experience, do many places offer conditional contracts (conditional clause of gaining ahpra status) or do they want you to have AHPRA before applying. In an ideal world I would attend AHPRA to show my ID once I've moved over with a conditional job offer so I'm not making two trips! (I'm sure that's everyone's dream!)

 

Thanks! 

[DukeNinja]

Hey. I made a trip of 1 week to Perth just to present to AHPRA. From a big picture perspective (my thoughts at the time), what's £2k, if it sets me up for life.

Having both AHPRA and ASMIRT will give you a massive advantage in terms of applying for jobs. Unfortunately you're very unlikely to get a job without AHPRA, and you're very unlikely to get your 189 visa without your ASMIRT skills assessment.

Bear in mind that the processing of applications will slow down at the end of the year. AHPRA is likely to take the full 12 weeks.

[Lauram1]

37 minutes ago, DukeNinja said:

Hey. I made a trip of 1 week to Perth just to present to AHPRA. From a big picture perspective (my thoughts at the time), what's £2k, if it sets me up for life.

Having both AHPRA and ASMIRT will give you a massive advantage in terms of applying for jobs. Unfortunately you're very unlikely to get a job without AHPRA, and you're very unlikely to get your 189 visa without your ASMIRT skills assessment.

Bear in mind that the processing of applications will slow down at the end of the year. AHPRA is likely to take the full 12 weeks.

Yeah, I really should think of it that way, it's just really excessive to come all that way! What do they require you to show? Just your passport?

 

Ok thanks that's good to know..I'll probably be aiming to post it towards the end of the year then tbh, to give myself a good while to arrange coming over! Already got a few holidays booked between now and the end of the year so I don't think I'll be able to squeeze in a week in aus between now and then! 

 

Thank you! 

[MaggieMay24]

23 hours ago, DukeNinja said:

It is true that there can be a longer wait if you have less points, however, if your occupation is in demand, and there has not been many invites for your profession, this may not be that long. Have you checked out this website? It tells you how many visas have been allocated to each profession: https://www.anzscosearch.com/occupation-ceilings-2018-19/

I work for a big Queensland Health hospital in Brisbane.

Unfortunately the occupation ceiling list is more an issue if there have been a high number of applicants in any particular occupation.  The first hurdle continues to be simply getting an invitation.  As of the June invitation round, which is the latest round published on the DHA website, 85 points was required to get an invitation:

[DukeNinja]

Well that's a bummer.

[Lauram1]

12 hours ago, MaggieMay24 said:

Unfortunately the occupation ceiling list is more an issue if there have been a high number of applicants in any particular occupation.  The first hurdle continues to be simply getting an invitation.  As of the June invitation round, which is the latest round published on the DHA website, 85 points was required to get an invitation:

Thanks for this!

Sorry, I have absolutely no idea about all of this, it's so confusing! So does that mean they'll only invite people over 85 points? I had a look at the same site earlier and it lists different professions underneath with 85/90 points (but not imaging) so does that mean they're only looking for the higher points from those select professions? And looking on the 189 page on the immi website it's still saying you need 65 or more? 

 

Thanks x

 

[Marisawright]

24 minutes ago, Lauram1 said:

So does that mean they'll only invite people over 85 points? I had a look at the same site earlier and it lists different professions underneath with 85/90 points (but not imaging) so does that mean they're only looking for the higher points from those select professions? And looking on the 189 page on the immi website it's still saying you need 65 or more? 

65 points is the minimum number of points you must have before you're eligible to even be considered, and that's always the same (unless they decide to increase it permanently).     However, there's also a minimum threshold to get an invitation, which fluctuates depending on how many visas they've already granted amongst other things.    You'll see that figure being quoted from time to time but I don't know where people get it from.  

On top of that, occupations which are heavily saturated have an even higher points threshold, as you quoted above.

 

[Lauram1]

AHH right ok! Thank you! That makes sense 

[zara2009]

Hi @DukeNinja

I really really need to ask you some questions...you have no idea how much I'm glad that I found you 

I'm a radiographer too , and I'm on way of assessment but got stuck in IELTS exam  I just started learning English a year ago in hope of moving to Australia, so I'm sorry that I can't write properly beforehand 

Do you know in which cases should someone undertake clinical experiences to become assessed or qualified by ASMIRT? I was top student at university and my average was 17.70 out of 20, and my internship year average was 19.5 out of 20. And the university I graduated from is among best ones of my country and also Australia.  I started working immediately , and, by now, I have 5.5 years of work experience in all parts of radiology except for MRI and Sonography. 

I'm so nervous about assessment...although my grades are good and I have enough work experience, I'm really worried about becoming conditional rejected. because they say in this case, I should undertake part of an Australian university course...And I can't afford it...

Did you find it easy to become assessed? Do yo have any idea about what are they looking for?

 

please help me ... 

[DukeNinja]

On 27/07/2019 at 23:22, zara2009 said:

Hi @DukeNinja

I really really need to ask you some questions...you have no idea how much I'm glad that I found you 

I'm a radiographer too , and I'm on way of assessment but got stuck in IELTS exam  I just started learning English a year ago in hope of moving to Australia, so I'm sorry that I can't write properly beforehand 

Do you know in which cases should someone undertake clinical experiences to become assessed or qualified by ASMIRT? I was top student at university and my average was 17.70 out of 20, and my internship year average was 19.5 out of 20. And the university I graduated from is among best ones of my country and also Australia.  I started working immediately , and, by now, I have 5.5 years of work experience in all parts of radiology except for MRI and Sonography. 

I'm so nervous about assessment...although my grades are good and I have enough work experience, I'm really worried about becoming conditional rejected. because they say in this case, I should undertake part of an Australian university course...And I can't afford it...

Did you find it easy to become assessed? Do yo have any idea about what are they looking for?

 

 

please help me ... 

Hey. So basically it doesn't matter how good your uni is, or how well you did. Your uni course, qualifications, and experience will need to be assessed by ASMIRT, in order to provide you with confirmation that it meets Australian standards.

If that's successful, then you are eligible to apply as a skilled independent, provided you also meet the minimum number of points required.

For the visa, it doesn't matter that you're not experienced in MR or US, as the skills assessment is purely to say that you're an equivalent radiographer.

Might be worth looking at the PTE language test as an alternative (things may have changed since I did mine, do check)

[zara2009]

5 hours ago, DukeNinja said:

Hey. So basically it doesn't matter how good your uni is, or how well you did. Your uni course, qualifications, and experience will need to be assessed by ASMIRT, in order to provide you with confirmation that it meets Australian standards.

If that's successful, then you are eligible to apply as a skilled independent, provided you also meet the minimum number of points required.

For the visa, it doesn't matter that you're not experienced in MR or US, as the skills assessment is purely to say that you're an equivalent radiographer.

Might be worth looking at the PTE language test as an alternative (things may have changed since I did mine, do check)

Hi

Really thank you for your response 

Unfortunately there isn't any PTE center in my country, so we must go to other countries for that, therefore PTE is my last choice.

Everything is stressful here, I sometimes fear to death when I think that I may not be able leave this country... All I can do is just trying... 

Thanks again

[Lauram1]

Hi,

Sorry to tag onto this post again. i know they don't have irmer per say in Australia but do they have anything similar? I've come across RANZCR standards of practice, is that their equivalent? 

Thanks in advance,

Laura 

[okamba]

Hi all,

I am an overseas trained radiographer. Has anyone taken AHPRA radiography exam? I need to take before I can be registered. Any what to study and how to study for it?